Of all the generative AI assistants out there, Meta AI must be the most annoying for the simple fact that Meta is shoving it down our throats. No app is safe, from Facebook to Messenger to WhatsApp to Instagram. Meta AI is there whether you want it or not, and there’s no way to deactivate it.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT is entirely optional, not that OpenAI can really force it on anyone. Apple’s Apple Intelligence is also optional; you don’t have to use it even if you have access to it. Then there’s Google Gemini, which is baked into many Google products but doesn’t feel as intrusive as Meta AI. The same goes for Microsoft’s Copilot.
The worst part about Meta AI is that Meta isn’t done ruining its apps with overdoing the AI presence. We’ve just learned of AI profiles coming to Facebook and Instagram, which is extremely annoying. It gets worse; Meta will now give AI bots prime plans inside WhatsApp, a feature that nobody really asked for from the one Meta app that’s actually useful.
WhatsApp is the world’s largest chat app. It works on iPhone and Android and supports end-to-end encryption across platforms. That’s the only reason I’m still using it. That, and the fact that Meta relented on its annoying WhatsApp policy change a few years ago.
Come to think of it, the only reason WhatsApp is so good and still encrypted, is that the app was built this way well before Meta bought it for a small fortune.
The last thing I want in WhatsApp is support for AI chatbots. Yes, it’s great that you can save a ChatGPT number to chat with the chatbot from WhatsApp, but that’s optional.
Say that Meta feels like it has to put AI bots in WhatsApp to expose more people to Meta AI and potentially make some money in the process. I still hate the idea of WhatsApp getting a dedicated AI menu. That’s wasted screen real estate right there. It’s a feature I’ll never use, and I’m sure others will be equally uninterested.
Meta is testing the new interface in an Android beta version of WhatsApp. Always reliable WABetaInfo surfaced the image above that shows the new AI tab replacing the Communities tab. That menu, which might actually be useful, is merging with the Chats tab.
The new AI tab will include all sorts of AI chatbots to talk to, including third-party models that can talk to you about specific topics.
I don’t doubt that some WhatsApp users will want to use these services. I say that as a longtime ChatGPT user who chats with OpenAI’s chatbot about all sorts of things daily. But I absolutely hate the idea of any AI product being forced on me the way Meta is doing with Meta AI.
WhatsApp is especially important to me as I use it to talk to many people. It’s not just Android users in my family or friends group that like WhatsApp; plenty of iPhone owners prefer the platform over iMessage. AI isn’t needed. Or if it is, it should be hidden somewhere and accessible on demand.
It might get even worse than that. WABetaInfo found evidence in a different WhatsApp beta version that Meta wants to let users create custom AI chatbots right inside the app. The process might be similar to what’s already available on Instagram.
The feature resembles the custom chatbots available in ChatGPT and Gemini, so it’s not entirely surprising. But, again, it’s not something I want to clutter a key app like WhatsApp.
I don’t see any value in adding AI bots to WhatsApp or supporting the creation of custom ones.
Remember that if left unchecked, some custom AI chatbots might be harmful, especially when certain types of users are exposed to them. And it’s not like Meta is improving its content moderation policies, so we have no idea how it’ll police this universe of AIs it’s bringing to apps like WhatsApp and Instagram.
I can only hope that Meta will not bring these features out of beta, but that’s just wishful thinking. If anything, I take some solace in knowing that it’ll take longer for Meta to deploy the AI changes to WhatsApp in Europe.
